


An Unusual Case

by thecompletebookworm



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Hospitals, Spoilers for Heart of Gold
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-16
Updated: 2015-05-10
Packaged: 2018-03-23 04:57:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3755275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecompletebookworm/pseuds/thecompletebookworm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A hospital employee tries to contact the next of kin of her mysterious patient.  Fix-it for Heart of Gold.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Tammy Williams was used to hospitals.  She didn’t particularly like them, but being a nurse meant she was more than used to them.  

Her latest patient was an older man, not elderly but older about fifty with some grey hairs.  He looked to be a man down on his luck with his worn out expensive suit and a rather battered cane.  

She checked through his vitals once again.  He didn’t seem to be worsening. He certainly wasn’t improving, but if he lasted the night, he’d probably make it.  His heart attack was unusual but it still seemed to have at least a few of the textbook symptoms.  The man let out a stifled groan, but didn’t regain consciousness.  

Tammy was still having a hard time wrapping her head around how unusual this case was.  The man didn’t really have a name. His file said R. Gold because that was what the man who had brought him in had said. The man hadn’t been much help.  He had known no medical history, couldn’t give any current information and didn’t even consider himself a friend.  

“It’s a good thing you got your friend here so quickly.  Things could have been a lot worse.”   

The man had shifted uncomfortably and his wife had given him a pointed look before making sure their child didn’t wander off.  (Which was a good thing, Tammy thought as that was the last thing this hospital needed, a child underfoot).  

“Well, he’s not really a friend,” The awkward sentence just faded out.  

"We’re closer to his son,” His wife interrupted, giving her a smile that made her slightly uncomfortable.  "They never had a great relationship.  I’m sure you can understand.”  

Tammy didn’t really understand but jumped on the new information.  "Do you have the son’s contact information? I’m sure he would have more of the medical history we need.“  

There was that over sweet smile again. "I’m afraid that’s not possible. Neal passed only a short time ago.  We’re living in his old apartment now.  His father’s a bit bitter Neal left it to us.”  

Tammy sighed.  She could understand that.  The family before her looked only slightly better than her patient did.  The apartment was likely a very sore spot for both parties.  "Does he have any other family?“  

The two shared a look.  "Not anyone close.”  

She persisted, “Surely there’s someone who would like to be informed about his heart attack.”  

The man pulled out his phone.  "I think I might have Belle’s number on here somewhere.“  

The woman gave a hollow laugh.  "I’m not sure she’d appreciate that.” 

There was a tense moment of silence, before the child reached up and tugged on his mother’s clothing.  "Mama, I’m tired.  Can we sit down?“  

"Of course Roland,” the woman scooped her son up with practiced ease and gave her husband one stern look before going to find a spot in the waiting room.  

“It really would be best to have a contact who knows the medical history.  With his weakened state, a severe allergic reaction could be fatal.”  

The man squeezed the phone tightly.  "I’m afraid I actually don’t have her number.  I haven’t seen her recently.“  

Tammy bit back a sigh.  Well, she hadn’t checked the man’s phone yet. There still was some hope.  At least she had a name now.  It wasn’t all that odd to look through her patients’ phones, but some of the contacts were certainly different.  This man must have been extremely interesting when he was awake.  Maybe he had been a teacher or a librarian or something.  Tammy thought there had to be a reason for all these fictional themed contacts.  The Mad Hatter, Frankenstein, Little Red Riding Hood, Her Majesty.  She paused in her flicking over a contact titled "The Savior”.  Was it possible that this was whom they were referring to?  

No, they had said Belle.  Tammy flicked back up through the contacts until she saw the picture of a very pretty woman.  She bit her lip before clicking to see the previous conversations.  

“Rumple, where are you?”  

“I need you to answer me.”

“Where are you?”  

“Please let me be wrong.”  

These texts were dated two weeks ago and really didn’t make much sense.  She still didn’t know who this Belle was, except she did know that whatever had happened couldn’t have ended well.  

Scrolling up just a little further, she saw happier things, lots of XOXOXOs and her patient (Rumple although that was a strange name. Maybe it was a pet name.)  had a tendency of calling the woman “Sweetheart.’   Tammy really wasn’t trying to pry.  She just wanted to make sure she wasn’t contacting an abuser or something similar.  The people in the waiting room, especially the woman had reacted so strangely to the name Belle.   

But the woman at least appeared harmless.  There were pet names and Rumple can you please remember to get the and random I-love-yous.  

So she went back to the contact and hit the mobile number.  It was late but hopefully Belle was still awake.  The phone kept ringing and Tammy held her breath, fully conscious of the bed-ridden man next to her.  Maybe she should have used her own phone.  If things had ended badly, maybe Belle would not want to pick up.  

She was relieved to hear the ringing stop and a yawn on the other side. "Hello?”  The voice had an Australian lilt to it.  

“Hello, this is Tammy Williams of Our Lady Providence Hospital.  You looked to be the most likely contact of R. Gold that we have as a patient here.”  

Tammy paused, listening for any reaction.  The poor woman seemed to be in shock, her whispered “Oh My Gods” her only reaction.  

“I’m afraid he’s suffered a heart attack and your name was in his phone.”  

Tammy didn’t think it was necessary, at least at the moment to mention the odd people in the waiting room.  

“You seemed to be someone who would care to be notified.”   

“Yes. I’m his-” Tammy could hear a sharp intake of breath.  "Is he going to be okay?“  

"I’m not going to lie.  He’s in pretty bad shape, actually unconscious at the moment.  We’re hopeful he’ll make it through the night. But any extra stress to his system could send him into cardiac arrest.”  

This was the part Tammy hated-listening to a loved one after they heard the news.  There were a few breaths as though the woman was trying not to cry, lots of shuffling of papers and a hand hitting a piece of furniture.  

“Where is the hospital?”  The voice sounded resigned and slightly scared.  

“New York City, more specifically Queens.”  

There was another sigh from the other side and a muffled, “I can ask Emma,” before a clearer response came in.  "I live in a small town in Maine.  It might take me a while to get there.“   

"Alright. Is this a good number to call if there are any changes?”

“Yes this will work best, but he’s going to be okay?”  

Tammy really wasn’t sure how to respond to the distraught woman.  “We’re going to try and do our best.”  


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for any improper hospital lingo.

There had been other patients to attend to. That was just the truths of hospitals. There were always people coming in and you had to go where you were needed most.  Tammy would be back to check on her mysterious patient soon. She'd made contact with his family. Belle would prefer to speak with her over some other hospital personal. It was just another simple hospital truth. 

She'd been making her way back to the room when she heard the alarm.  Cardiac Arrest.   She felt her pace quicken instinctively, certain without any doubt that it had to be Mr. Gold.  

There was a swarm of movement in the room. Doctors, nurses, any medical personnel available. Tammy barely noticed the new woman in the room, stumbling back to get out of the way.   Someone pulled out the defibrillator; Gold was cleared and then there was that split second wait for the reaction.   Still nothing.  Just the shrill tone of no heart beat.  The defibrillator was used again and Tammy let out a sigh of relief as the faint heartbeat appeared on the equipment. 

There was a rush to get the poor man an oxygen unit. After he seemed to be in decent condition, Tammy gave the woman in the room a closer look.  She had unruly red hair and an expression of concern upon her face. She didn't match the photo of Belle and the woman on the phone had said that it would take a few hours to reach the hospital.  Who could this woman possibly be?  The people in the waiting room had made it very clear there wasn't anyone who really cared about the man in the bed. So where could she have come from?

"I'm sorry, Miss, but you're going to have to leave.  We can call you back in later if necessary, but I'm afraid you're going to have to wait in the lobby until I say we allow you back in." 

The woman looked ready to throw a fit. "I'm sorry." Tammy put on the fake comforting smile she'd mastered since working here.  "It's hospital policy."  

 The woman tossed some of her hair back and started to leave the room, turning in the doorway to give her one last glare.   "I expect to be informed as soon as possible."  

"I'll do my best."  Tammy said, wishing she didn't have to.  This was ridiculous and she still couldn't quite put her finger on why this woman made her so uncomfortable. She shook her head, trying to clear her head and focus on the situation at hand.  She still had a patient to take care of. 

After triple checking the breathing tube, Tammy knew she had to call Belle.  This was exactly the sort of complication they knew he could be in for.   The phone had barely started ringing when she heard the other woman on the line again.

"What happened? Is he okay? Is he awake?  Is he hurt?  What's wrong? I'm almost there.  Tell him I'm almost-"

Tammy interrupted the woman's worrying. "I'm afraid he's taken a bit of a turn for the worst."  She didn't give the woman any time to comprehend it, just continued speaking in the well practiced reassuring tone.  "He's just undergone cardiac arrest.  We were able to stabilize him, but his heart is still weak, pumping about 40% of the blood we'd expect a healthy heart to be able to.  We're observing him carefully, but he hasn't regained consciousness yet." 

"But there's still hope?" Belle's tone was one torn between looking for assurance and telling someone telling herself everything was going to be okay. 

 "In situations like these. There's always hope. We just have to think of all the possibilities.  Has Mr. Gold had any heart problems in the past?"  

Belle let out a soft sigh.  "None that I know of.  I haven't seen him in a while and before that I thought we were" She caught herself,  "he was fine. We didn't talk much about his health. We probably should have. There was just a lot going on between Bae and the wedding and then...” Belle trailed off apparently lost in thought.

 Tammy didn't want to press the distraught woman too hard but still obviously needed any information she could get. "Who was Bae?"

 There was another sigh and Tammy knew she had hit another sore point.  "Bae was his son. He died a few months ago."

 Tammy could feel the frown on her face and although she really didn't want to bring up the people in the waiting room she knew she had to, "The people who brought him in referred to a Neal?"

 "I'm afraid I don't understand."

 "A man, rather tall, light haired with some scruff, a woman-"

 There was the tiniest whisper of "Robin". Then a much more confidant, "I think I know who you're talking about.  They're from our town, moved recently.  I just hadn't expected them to be there too."  

 There was another pause and Tammy wasn't quite sure how to redirect the conversation. Then the woman broke in once again, her voice affectionate,  "Bae was always what Rumple called him.  It was short for a family name that his son hated.  Decided to go by Neal instead.  Rumple never really got the hang of it." 

 "Did Neal ever have heart issues?"

 "No.  He was perfectly healthy and..."  She trailed off before coming in much more passionately "frankly, that's not really important right now.  How is my husband?"  

 Tammy tried to not let the new information faze her. "He's currently on oxygen. He is pretty dependent on the life support system.  We're going to wait for some more improvements before we do anything." 

 "Can you give me an honest answer? Is he going to be okay?"

 Tammy bit her lip, not wanting to give any false hope. “It’s worse than when I talked to you last, but I’m hopeful he’ll pull through.” 

 “If he wakes up, can you tell him I’ll be there soon?”

* * *

 

Belle rushed into the emergency room of the hospital. She didn’t bother looking around, just running up to the front desk, which was thankfully clear, and saying, “I’m looking for Robert Gold.  He had a heart attack.  I’m his wife.”

 The woman at the desk gave her a sympathetic smile before offering “Room 216.” 

 “Thank you.” 

Belle paused just outside the room, trying to calm herself.  Regardless of anything. She was going to be the strong one right now.  They could talk about everything later.  They would figure things out.   But for now, she was going to love and support him; she was going to make sure her husband was okay.

That was when she heard it.   The sound she wished she could block from her memory. That witch’s laugh. This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be happening. Zelena was dead.

Belle tried to keep all the other possibilities out of her head.  She peered in the room ever so slightly trying to get an image of the inside off a reflection. But it didn’t matter; she still couldn’t see anything.   

“I mean, you are aware I have a certain potion that fixes hearts.”  There it was slightly louder this time and now Belle knew.  It was definitely Zelena. 

“But I don't know if it could cure this little lump of coal you've got in your narrow little chest.” 

She had no plan.  She just barged into the room because now there was no other option. At least, Zelena’s back had been turned toward the bed so she had a split second advantage. Belle grabbed the cane from the ground. It was nearly as heavy as his real one, the one she had sitting in the car outside, but it was heavy enough. She held it in front of her menacingly. There was no magic here. She would be fine.  

“It seems we’ve been interrupted.” Zelena whispered to him, leaning closer, her hand over the oxygen tube. 

Belle approached waving the cane in front of her. “Don’t you touch him!”

Zelena smiled, looking not the least bit worried. “And what are you going to do?” Her voice mocking and entirely too sweet,  “Show me True Love conquers all?”

CRACK! 

Belle glanced down at the cane in her hand, almost surprised at what she had just done, but there was no way she regretted it.   She let out the breath she hadn’t known she had been holding and turned to look at her True Love. He was giving her a slightly awestruck look but she knew she didn’t deserve it. 

She reached over him and pressed the call button. “They’ll take her away, Rumple. You’ll never have to worry about her again.” She grabbed his hand, almost to reassure both of them that this was real, she was here and she was never going to let go.    


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A proper reunion now that Zelena is lying unconscious on the floor (which even doesn't concern medical personnel because I'm vindictive and honestly gave up trying to get the characters to care about realism).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You have Robin4 to thank for this little ball of emotion. I had originally planned on ending it after the last chapter but the love from the incredible author is really what kept it going. (Because I'm such a FOTS fangirl and the fact that someone so talented would even give my work a read is amazing to me.) Thank you so much for your support and I'm sorry this is so late.

It had to be a dream. There was no other possible explanation.  There was no way Belle was here.  No way that that was her hand caressing his hair.  She was gone. Safe in Storybrooke. Far away from him. And (almost more importantly Zelena.)

"Shhh, it's okay, Rumple. I'm right here. We can figure this out."

He realized he was still shaking. He tried to focus on just the feel of her, the smell of vanilla and the worn pages of books that was so Belle, and breathing.  There was something in his mouth, going down his throat that was simultaneously making it both easy and hard to breathe. 

She inched her way on to the bed, wrapping her arms around him.  "See, I'm real. You're being so brave, Rumple."

A smile rose to his lips as he felt the gentle kiss she gave to the top of his head.  He never knew how Belle seemed to be able to guess exactly what he needed to hear.

She didn't say anything for a while, just holding him tight.   And that was enough for him.

At least it was until he could feel the tears falling into his hair.  

Rumplestiltskin couldn't say anything to comfort his wife. The oxygen that had restricted him from calling for help from Zelena was just as much a hindrance now.  Besides what was he supposed to say?  He missed her.  Missed her more than he had words to express.  But there was also so much pain there.  He had hurt her. She had hurt him. He didn't think he'd ever be able to forget her forcing him away from everything he'd cared about.

But he knew he could forgive her.

So they sat in silence, wrapped around each other, until Belle gave a cute little hiccup as she tried to get her tears under control.  "I'm sorry. I told myself I wouldn't cry, Rumple. The whole ride here, I thought I could do this.  Do the brave thing and all that."  She let out a sigh and tried to pull herself away. 

But he wouldn't let her.  He used what little energy he had to move forward, to allow her actual space on the bed behind him.   He knew his eyes were pleading and helpless, but he needed her right now. He lifted one hand and brought it up to her face. 

She smiled slightly and leaned into it, apparently needing the contact as much as he did. 

"I promise, Rumple, we're going to make this work." 

Her hand drifted down to intertwine with his. "I love you."  

There was a knock at the door and Rumplestiltskin clasped their hands together tighter so she couldn't pull away. A nurse walked in, marching with urgency to the bed, giving Zelena's body only a fleeting glance.

"I assume you must be Belle,” the woman said, staring at her intently. 

Belle quickly tried to wipe any evidence from her tears away.   "Yes, that would be me. I assume you're Nurse Williams." She offered her unheld hand to shake. Tammy gave her a knowing look before extending her own. 

"Indeed.  I'm glad you were able to make it here so quickly.  There's already visible improvement from before his cardiac arrest. It helps to remove stress from the system." 

"Of course,” Belle smiled politely before diving into the real reasoshe had called the nurse.  "I completely agree which is why I need to make sure that woman stays as far away from my husband as possible."

"Is there something I need to be aware of?"

Belle bit her lip, glanced down at her husband before replying,  "That woman is the worst sort of criminal."  She paused, gathering her words.  "Her name is a Zelena Mills and she is a known murderer.  She held my husband hostage for a year and was responsible for Bae's death."    

"I can call security now and make sure she is kept far from this room." 

"That would be lovely."

"But I'm confused, why isn't she already in custody."  

"I'm afraid she escaped after confessing, since it appeared she was dead.  Our sheriffs considered the case closed." 

"Naturally, I’ll be sure to alert the NYPD while I'm at it." 

The woman smiled, looking almost like a Princess despite the obvious tear tracts, and offered a "Thank you” before offering all of her attention to her husband, who reveled in it like a drowning man.

Tammy shook her head as she exited, overhearing the woman whispering about magic scrolls and swans and true loves. This was most definitely the most unusual case she had even encountered while working for the hospital.


End file.
